Monthly Archives: August 2014

There is a book for everyone. This is one of those things that I have always held as a truth. The down side is that not everyone will like the same book. As a bookseller I’ve also found it a truth that the sales of a book increase when it crosses out to expand beyond the printed medium. All of this leads up to “Oh my lands! It’s another wave of 50Shades of Grey with the movie coming out.”

Like it, love it, or lump it one of the things that 50 Shades did was get us talking about sexuality in an open format again, and particularly in terms of literature. Mind you there were some really good books to induce conversation before and have been since the release of Ms. James book. We also have no problem helping you find all of these and more. This might, however, involve a bit of discussion. Please do not feel that we will judge any kind of conversation, we’re not those people. The bookseller’s creed is much like that of a pastor, doctor, or bartender… actually probably more like the latter, but the moral of the story is that we hear it all.

To help ease our way into these discussions allow me to relate to you a bit of personal experience. There was a lovely line of more erotic fiction coming out of England in the mid to late 90s from Virgin Publishing named Black Lace. (Virgin Publishing was brought into the UK division of Random House fold in 2007 so there have been reissues of most of their titles in other lines since.) I loved the Black Lace line. My Aunt loved the Black Lace line. We would talk about different books on occasion comparing favorites, sharing suggestions, and recapping certain scenes. This worked out really well for us until she brought up a scene in public… on Thanksgiving… with my father sitting between us and my grandmother, her mother, sitting opposite us. Not cool! Now to be fair she didn’t mention a title, author, or go into great detail about the scene. (Thank goodness.) Also I have to admit now that all three of those people have passed it is a fond, and funny, memory of mine. Still not so much at the time. So if I can get through that then you can talk to me as openly as you like about what draws you to any type of book.

Actually that is always one of the places where I start with recommendation because the Black Lace books had some of my favorite authors. Emma Holly wrote several books for them, all fantastic, but when it comes to more of a D/s relationship I would recommend Velvet Glove and Top of Her Game. Lucinda Carrington wins for having numbers in her title first in my book for Ninety Days of Genevieve.

Books published by more recent authors would include the Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day, really anything of Maya Banks that happens to be in a trade paperback is more on the sensual side, Olivia Cunning for hot rockstars, J. Kenner, Meredith Wild, Shayla Black, Mari Carr, Lauren Dane, and Christina Lauren.

I’d also single out by title Opal Carew’s His to Possess,

which like 90 Days of Genevieve, is (ahem) a book where there is a work relationship involved

She wants His business, he wants her.

and The Professional by Kresley Cole, which a friend of mine read several times in a row before being able to put it down.

In addition I would recommend the Smutketeers (R.G. Alexander, Eden Bradley, and Robin L. Rotham), not only because many of their books fall into this genre, but also because they are a group of authors dedicated to promoting a positive view of female sexuality.

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To write or not to write that is the question-Whether ’tis Nobler in mind to suffer the slings and arrows from my own outrageous writing, or to be prepared to take refuge from those wishing to break my fingers and keep me from ever writing again.

And by re-writing something that was and still is very good into my own “Frankenstein’s Monster” there is now intangible proof why I am far wittier and funnier in my head than on paper. Never having been tested for the elusive “writer gene” I will just go ahead and admit to not having the Write Stuff.

You see, over the weekend we had the pleasure of hosting a book signing with local author Marlene Lee. A very sweet lovely woman who kindly chided me for not writing and working through my issues like I should. How am I ever going to make my narrative consistent, or develop a character that you might want to spend 10 minutes with? We’re not even scratching the surface of why all of my story lines are either pretentious or delivered with the ham-fisted style of an out of work WWE wrestler with a bad back and an attitude to match.

Practice she said. Write more she said. Practice makes perfect. Wait! She didn’t say that, that was something my Mother would say. Look at this as an exercise in character building. Followed quickly with a this too shall pass. Bollocks I say! Let’s let the writer’s write and the readers read. Until then I will be in my toy box reading comics with a flashlight.

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One of the truly enjoyable part of our job is putting a book in a reader’s hand that was not expected and yet loved all the same. Our job gets even better when that book comes from a local author. In a summer filled with great books, Hadena James keeps that trend going with Explosive Dreams, the 4th book in the Dreams & Reality series. With her 5th book in the series, Cannibal Dreams coming out August 31st in e-book it might be time to check out this ongoing series of Aislinn Cain and the Serial Crimes Tracking Unit.

The next time you are in the store be sure to ask about her books. Also available in ebook on our online store.

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Since we started selling Ebooks on our website we are constantly asked, “Can I download it to my Kindle?” And our answer goes something like this, “….<nervous eye twitches>….sure…..yes. Yes, Yes it can. You just download it to your computer and then transfer the files.”

Okay let’s take a moment for a confessional before we get completely out of control. We don’t know. Becky owns a KOBO reader and I barely get along with anything more complex than a 1950s Royal Typewriter.

But we really don’t know.

You know?

So before you judge us and send us off for a long sentence on Saint Helena let us try to figure this whole thing out.

Ebook Conversion, a free conversion site, is one of the most popular sites on the Net when it comes to converting EPUB to the Kindle’s MOBI files. The site is pretty straight forward even for me, and that is saying something. It is a simple two step method to convert the files.

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Local Author Lori Robinett will be stopping by Village Books Saturday, Aug 9th from noon to 2 p to sign copies of her new book, Denim & Diamonds.

Attorney Beth Jameson might know her way around the courtroom, but doesn’t know a cutting horse from a carousel horse. That doesn’t slow her down when her estranged father dies and leaves her his horse ranch just south of Kansas City. True to form, the gift comes with strings attached – she has to be successful in her first year, or she loses her inheritance. All of it. Beau, the handsome ranch foreman, was her father’s right hand man, but she must convince him that she’s in it for the long haul – that she isn’t just some city girl that doesn’t respect her father’s legacy. She has to learn the business from the ground up, and must learn to trust others – not an easy thing for a woman who was abandoned by her father and then by her ex-fiancé. Beth can’t believe how quickly the ranch becomes home, and how hard she is willing to work to make it hers . . . and learns that everyone deserves a second chance at happiness